No high-ranking personnel involved in 'spy case': MND

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- No high-ranking officers were found to be involved in the latest alleged espionage case, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.

Speaking at a news briefing, MND spokesman Luo Shao-ho (羅紹和) said the military recently received a tip-off that retired servicemen had approached military personnel in an attempt to collect confidential information for the mainland Chinese government.

The MND promptly asked the Military Police Command to form an ad hoc investigative committee to investigate the alleged spy attempts.

The committee later presented the evidence it collected to the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office for further investigation, Luo said.

Prosecutors subsequently launched raids and questioned several military personnel allegedly involved in the case on Wednesday, he noted.

According to the MND, initial investigation showed that no high-ranking military personnel were involved in the case.

However, Luo declined to elaborate on further details, citing confidentiality in an ongoing investigation.

Luo made the remarks when asked to comment on local media reports, which claimed that several senior military officers were involved in the latest espionage case.